PA says Warsaw Middle East conference is 'US conspiracy'

Palestinian Authority rejects US-led conference on Middle East peace and security due to take place next week in Warsaw.

Ben Ariel, 08/02/19 05:06

Mahmoud Abbas

Reuters

The Palestinian Authority (PA) government on Thursday rejected a US-led conference on Middle East peace and security due to take place next week in Warsaw, branding it an "American conspiracy", AFP reported

The joint US-Polish conference, which was first announced last month by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, will be held on February 13 and 14 and host ministers from across the globe.

Iran was angered by the conference and took action against Poland in protest, including the cancellation of a week dedicated to Polish films. A US official later clarified that the conference is not aimed at Iran, explaining that the conference would discuss the crises in Syria and Yemen as well as missile proliferation, cyber issues, human rights and refugees, with working groups then tasked with following up.

PA officials were not invited to the meeting amid a breakdown of relations with the United States, though the Israeli-PA conflict could be discussed.

US President Donald Trump’s senior advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt are expected to attend the conference, and Kushner is expected to share an update about the US administration’s peace plan for Israel and the PA.

In a statement on Thursday, the PA “foreign ministry” labelled the meeting "an American conspiracy intended to get the participants to adopt the US views on issues of the region, particularly the Palestine question".

It said the PA government would ignore all conclusions made by the conference.

The statement also criticized Trump for hailing the US embassy move to Jerusalem in his State of the Union address Tuesday.

"The malicious intentions of this administration were reiterated by US President Donald Trump in his State of the Union speech to Congress in which he stressed continuing with the policy of absolute bias toward Israel," said the statement.

The PA has rejected the US peace plan being formulated by the Trump administration before it has even been unveiled and has been boycotting the US ever since Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December of 2017.